


That Dragon...

by RainyMeadows



Category: Layton Kyouju Series | Professor Layton Series, Layton Kyouju vs Gyakuten Saiban | Professor Layton vs. Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney, 逆転裁判 | Gyakuten Saiban | Ace Attorney
Genre: Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Established Relationship, Hurt/Comfort, Implied/Referenced Character Death, M/M, Mentions of Cancer, Other, layluke shippers dni
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-08
Updated: 2020-09-08
Packaged: 2021-03-07 08:02:43
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,433
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26349802
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RainyMeadows/pseuds/RainyMeadows
Summary: It's true that a teacher shouldn't get involved in the personal lives of his students, but as Phoenix realises Hershel has been forced to learn, it's impossible not to care when something terrible happens to them. Loosely tied to The Families of Jean Descole and Meeting the (Potential) In-Laws
Relationships: Hershel Layton/Naruhodou Ryuuichi | Phoenix Wright
Comments: 6
Kudos: 41





	That Dragon...

Phoenix glanced up from his book as he heard the front door close.

“Hey,” he called as he saw the dark shape approaching. “If I’d known you were coming back, I would’ve filled the kettle.”

The footsteps he heard were slow, hesitant, almost shuffling.

“How much do you know about Victorian trials?” he asked, uncrossing his legs. “I feel like a jurist system could work, but it’d be better if the jurists weren’t in the courtroom to argue with the lawyers. Not only that, but they’re not allowed to vote until the end of the trial. What do you think?”

His question was met with silence.

When he looked up at Hershel, he saw the smaller man simply standing in place, staring emptily down at the couch in front of him that Phoenix had laid himself across.

“Where are Des and the kids?”

His voice was faint, monotone and numb.

“They went grocery shopping.” Phoenix snapped his book shut and set it down on the coffee table. “Apparently you guys ran out of breakfast cereal or something. Hershel, what’s wrong?”

Without a word, Hershel walked over to the coffee table and dropped his hat on it. He stood for a few seconds in silence, fists clenched, and Phoenix had to look carefully to make sure he was still breathing.

“Hershel?” he said again.

He heard a sniff.

“…I…”

When Hershel turned to look at him, Phoenix saw that his dark eyes were swollen and bloodshot, and his cheeks were oddly streaked.

“Hershel, what happened?” he asked, shuffling to sit up against the couch arm.

Without a word, without waiting for any objection, Hershel sat down across Phoenix’s lap and leaned into his body, nestling his head into Phoenix’s shoulder.

As soon as he had processed what was happening, Phoenix rested his arm around Hershel’s shoulders and held him close.

“Talk to me, babe.” He wiped a fresh tear away from Hershel’s eye. “Did something happen at work?”

Hershel sniffed again. He didn’t even try to look Phoenix in the face.

He took a deep breath.

“…a student…” he said softly.

Phoenix frowned.

“What about a student?” He cuddled his boyfriend as hard as he dared. “What the hell did they do to you?!”

“N-nothing,” Hershel stammered. “It isn’t me. I’m alright, I promise.”

He reached up and gently took Phoenix’s hand away from his face, and moved it to the top of his head. Phoenix followed his lead and ran his fingers over Hershel’s wonderfully soft hair, ignoring the sweat clogged against his scalp from his adorable boyfriend’s crying.

“…one student in my class,” Hershel said softly, “has been unable to attend my classes since the third week of the semester. Her name is Valerie Glover. It’s… it’s rather an unusual experience for me. I have to make sure her friends have supplemental materials they can provide her with.”

He wiped his eyes on the heel of his palm.

“Her absence hasn’t affected her work ethic in the slightest.” His voice was strained and exhausted. “She _always_ turns in her assignments on time and they’re always top quality. She’s one of my best students, on top of being a lovely young lady who never fails to apologise for not being able to attend…”

He sniffed again.

“…she…” Another deep breath. “…she even sent me a thank-you card telling me how grateful she was for my patience… and telling me that her mother’s going to submit her final assignment for her because…”

“Why?” Phoenix ran his hand through Hershel’s hair again. “What’s happened to her?”

Hershel’s eyes slid closed.

“…she explained to me that she hasn’t attended my classes,” he said, “because she has what she called a stage 4 cranio-spinal sarcoma.”

Phoenix’s heart twinged with guilt.

“I-I’m sorry,” he said. “I don’t know what that is.”

“It’s…” Hershel took a deep breath. “…bone cancer. Where the base of her skull meets her spine.”

A thrill of horror flooded down Phoenix’s spine.

“Oh _god,_ ” he sighed. “What the hell? That’s horrible!”

“And even if it was operable,” Hershel went on, “the tumour’s wrapped itself around her spinal column. They wouldn’t be able to remove it without leaving her paralysed from the jaw down and unable to do anything other than blink. She wouldn’t be able to move or…”

His breath caught in his throat.

“She wouldn’t be able to _breathe_ unaided. She’d never be able to leave a hospital bed.”

He wiped his eyes yet again.

“Phoenix,” he said softly, his voice beginning to crack, “she’s only _nineteen…_ ”

His fingers tightened around Phoenix’s shirt as he bowed his head, fresh tears running unimpeded down his cheeks. Phoenix could only think to hug him close, rub his head and his shoulder, and press a gentle kiss to his forehead.

“And I know…” Hershel went on the moment he was able to breathe again. “…I know this is silly of me… she’s only one of my students, she… she isn’t related to me or…”

“There is _nothing_ silly about it,” Phoenix told him. “Screw the idea of being some stoic gentleman, you hear me? She’s a kid and she’s dying and there’s nothing you can do about it. How the hell is it silly for you to be upset about that?”

He stroked Hershel’s hair again.

“…her card…” Hershel said weakly. “…it came with an invitation to her funeral… in two weeks…”

He looked up at Phoenix, dark eyes swelling with tears again.

“She has _five days_ to live,” he choked.

Phoenix kissed his cheek, wiping away a tear in the process.

“I can’t believe I never knew,” Hershel told him. “I never thought to ask her about the circumstances of her absence. I simply assumed it could have been a transport issue o-or perhaps she had a family member she needed to care for. I never considered that in all the months she’s been my student, that she could be dying of…”

“If she never mentioned it, how could you know?” asked Phoenix. “Same if her friends never mentioned it. Hershel, nobody’s expecting you to be a mind-reader.”

“I’m her _teacher,_ Phoenix,” Hershel replied. “How can I call myself respectable if I’m ignorant to the welfare of my students? Especially one as kind as Valerie!”

“If nobody told you, then you couldn’t know!” Phoenix told him again. “I went through this a million times when I was a lawyer, okay? Going into trials with only half the information I needed, having to go on for another day because I needed more time to talk to people…”

He brushed Hershel’s hair away from his face.

“Don’t punish yourself for not knowing,” he said. “Especially if you’re not a…”

He frowned again.

“…dammit, what’s the name for a cancer doctor?”

“An oncologist.”

“Yeah, that.” He cradled Hershel’s cheeks and looked him in the eye. “You don’t have to feel responsible for this, okay? Cancer’s a freak of genetics and nature. This is _not your fault._ ”

He wiped another tear away with his thumb.

“But if you really feel this horrible,” he said, “then I’m not going to stop you. You sit here with me and cry for as long as you need. I don’t know what kind of prior baggage you might have that’s making you feel this way, and I’m not going to make you tell me if it’s as awful as I think it could be.”

He hugged Hershel into his shoulder, still stroking his soft hair and rubbing his arm.

“Although,” he went on, “we might have a problem if your brother thinks I’m the one who made you cry when he gets back.”

He heard his boyfriend blow out a brief, mirthless laugh.

It didn’t take long to fade.

“I…” He hiccupped. “I’m sorry to have made you worry about me. The last thing I want is to bog you down with my petty little worries.”

Phoenix sighed.

“Anything that’s making you feel this bad can’t be petty,” he replied. “I’d rather be upset because of what I know is going on with you than be upset because something’s bothering you and you won’t talk to me about it. You got that?”

He cuddled Hershel’s warm body against his.

“You don’t have to pretend to be strong all the time,” he said. “Let me take care of that for now, okay? Let me be the gentleman for a while.”

Relief washed over him as he felt Hershel nestle into his shoulder.

“I love you, Phoenix,” he said softly.

Phoenix stroked Hershel’s hair and kissed the top of his head.

“I love you too.”

**Author's Note:**

> This is inspired by a real-life experience. My father, who works as a radiographer, came home and explained that he'd X-rayed a very friendly old man who turned out to have a sarcoma, which he has explained is possibly the worst cancer you could have. He was very shaken up and saddened by the experience, which has stuck with me since he usually either comes home simply tired from a long work day or frustrated by difficult patients, and here he was knowing that a very kind person was going to suffer a painful and unavoidable death. It was strange seeing that from a man who generally tries to be upbeat, but I don't think anybody could NOT be shaken by an experience like that.


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